The quality of a knife largely depends on the connection between the knife haft and the knife blade. In most production methods, the knife blade has a connecting piece that projects into the knife haft. This connecting piece is called the tang. In order to form the knife haft, the haft shells are riveted, screwed or glued at the tang. The tang extends through the knife haft and is usually visible at the side surfaces, and also at the haft head when it passes through the entire length of the haft. A further possibility of connecting the knife haft and knife blade is to screw the knife blade to the knife haft as disclosed e.g. in DE 44 09 976 A1. As a further alternative, the knife haft is designed by injecting a haft material, frequently a thermoplastic material, around the tang.
The tang is usually integral with the knife blade and consists of the same material as the knife blade itself, in most cases of a high-quality steel, in particular, stainless steel. In order to ensure stable connection to the knife haft, the tang must project by a minimum length into the knife haft. This is disadvantageous in that high-quality, expensive blade material must be used to produce knifes, which is not available as part of the blade for cutting during future use of the knife.
It is the underlying purpose of the invention to develop a connection between a knife haft and a knife blade which reduces the amount of blade material used for connection with the knife haft and at the same time simplifies production.